The Ring
by ManOfManyTales
Summary: [ONE SHOT] Blake Belladonna was... quieter than usual on this day. Sun was determined to find out why. Blake divulges more into her history with the White Fang's leader, her ex-partner Adam Taurus. She reveals what happened before she left the White Fang... and why leaving was the hardest thing she's ever had to do. [First RWBY fanfic, please review]


**Go easy on me please. This is my first **_**RWBY**_** fanfic. It's not my first fanfic, it's my first one for the **_**RWBY **_**fandom. Depending on how well this goes, I may write another, but more on that later.**

**Please review. I want to know what you all think. Favorites are okay (not alerts, because this is a one shot). But I really really REALLY like reviews.**

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**Disclaimer: I am required by law to say that **_**RWBY **_**and none of its characters are mine, nor do I profit off of them. **_**RWBY**_** is formerly the property of Rooster Teeth productions and formerly the property of Monty Oum (rest in peace)**

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_**The Ring**_

Blake sat restlessly at one of the tables outside of a little diner. She was fidgeting…tapping her feet and twiddling her fingers as she sat alone. To anyone who walked past her, she would have looked nervous… or impatient, but that wasn't the case. She was restless; this time of the year…it was never easy for her.

"Excuse me miss." A voice beside her said. Blake looked up to see her friend Sun, the monkey faunus. "Is this seat taken?" He asked with his trademark grin as he sat across from her.

Blake gave a small smile in return. "Hey Sun." She greeted quietly.

A simple meeting. An exchange between two friends. You'd think this would be normal…usually going unnoticed in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. But nope. There was someone who had actually decided to watch this exchange.

Adam Taurus, the leader of the faunus… "protest" group, the White Fang, stood on a rooftop several stories off the ground. He watched intently through his mask at his former partner and her new…well he didn't know what he was. To be honest, this wasn't the first time. After she deserted the White Fang (an offense punishable by death), she didn't really hide herself. Often, Adam would sneak away and just watch her; see what his old partner was doing. Including this little…the word left a vile taste in his mouth… date.

The bull's hands clenched into fist as he watched them both. Even from so great a distance, he saw Blake's small, subtle smile. A smile she once gave to him… and it infuriated him. What made that monkey so great? Adam didn't know. And yet, he wasn't mad at her. He knew that all too well. The bull faunus was actually mad at himself. And that revelation made the pain he felt all the worse.

There was a time when Blake was his and his alone. He lived in her world, and she in his. They were inseparable. But, she threw it all away. She ran off, abandoning the White Fang and the faunus' dream of equality.

But what hurt far more was her personal betrayal. She had also run away from him.

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"What is it Blake?" The monkey asked, tilting his head.

"Huh? What?" The cat was shaken from her thoughts,. The two had sat in silence when their food arrived. Blake's mind wandered, deep in thought during that silence, her hand resting on her untouched cup of tea.

"You were thinking about him again weren't you?" Sun asked. In the short time they'd gotten to know each other, Sun liked to consider himself Blake's friend. She'd told him things she most likely told no one else…or, if she did tell people, he was probably the first to know (much like the case when she told him about being in the White Fang). The monkey had also picked up on certain… quirks the cat had. "You usually get all broody when you think about the White Fang and your old partner." He explained his reasoning as to why he was asking her that question.

Blake lowered her golden eyes and gave only a curt nod as a response. That was all Wukong needed. He nodded in understanding and rose from his seat, moving to her side. He got on his knees beside her and placed one of his gloved hands on her cheek. He turned her head to face him, while rubbing her cheek at the same time.

"You can tell me when you're ready. I won't force it." He said reassuringly. He turned, looking as the sun set behind the great Metropolis that was Vale. "Sun's setting." He said as he rose back to his feet. He extended his hand out to the cat. "Come on, I'll walk you back to the academy."

The silent Blake gave Sun another small smile, albeit this one was a little bit bigger than her previous one. She accepted the monkey's hand and rose to her feet, walking alongside him. As they walked, she leaned a little closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

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From his vantage point, Adam was on the verge of losing it. If he wasn't wearing gloves, he could have sworn he was digging his fingers into his palm hard enough to draw blood.

The nerve of that monkey. Being all sweet and putting the moves on _HIS_ Blake. … He stopped in his tracks. His? Memories came rushing through his head.

"_I love it!"_

"_Only the best for you my little kitty."_

"_Together forever."_

"_Blake? I'm home. … Blake?"_

That's right. She wasn't his anymore. And she probably never would again. He had heard her talk about him after all. And he was only a beast in her eyes.

And yet, after everything she did, Adam still couldn't go through with it. He could tag her as a deserter; he couldn't kill her or have someone else kill her; he couldn't live with her blood on his hands.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Adam looked at the diner again. Dammit! They were gone. They probably went back to Beacon, but it still infuriated Adam that he lost his target. The bull slammed his fist down, punching into the building ledge with enough force to break his hand. It didn't hurt though. Nothing hurt like his complex feelings concerning his ex-partner.

Yet, why? By all means, she deserted the White Fang, she should be killed. He should have had her assassinated after he took over. Yet, he did the exact opposite: he erased. He destroyed all documentation that she was ever a part of the White Fang. Only he knew.

But, why? Why did he still let her live? Deep down, Adam knew and hated the answer. No matter how far apart they were, even if she absolutely hated him, Adam Taurus could not live without Blake Belladonna.

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"You've been awfully quiet today." Sun commented as the light started to fade and night set in. The two faunus were walking across the Beacon campus. "More so than usual."

"Sorry." Blake said meekly. "It's just…" She trailed off. She knew she could trust Sun, she just wasn't sure if she was ready to talk about it yet. "A lot of stuff happened on this day." She told him. "It's always been kind of painful for me."

"Well, you don't need to talk to me until you're ready." Sun smiled as they walked up right outside the dormitory. "Well, this is your stop." He said, suddenly getting nervous and rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah." Blake said. A faint blush appeared on her pale cheeks.

Sun saw this as a possible chance. Yes, he considered Blake his friend, but he'd always wanted to be more to the cat faunus. He wanted to know if there was a chance he could be with her. At the very least, he wanted to know if she felt the same way. That motivated Sun to close his eyes and slowly lean toward Blake's face.

Blake's golden eyes widened, and she held her hand up, stopping the would-be kiss. "I'm sorry." She said, her voice low with sadness.

Pain flashed in Sun's eyes as he pulled away.

"I can't." Blake said. "I just…" She looked back at him. "I'm sorry. I can't."

Suddenly, it all made sense to the monkey. The pain in her voice when she brought up her days in the White Fang. They way she talked about her old partner. The hesitation just now. "It's him, isn't it?" He asked, somberly. "You love him." It wasn't a question.

"I don't know." Blake admitted as she collapsed into Sun's arms. The monkey wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug. She wouldn't cry, she was too strong for that. Sun knew it. But that didn't mean she wasn't torn up inside, she just didn't want to show it.

"I loved him." She admitted. "But I don't know what I feel for him anymore. There was a time when I would have done anything for him. I would have followed him through hell if he asked me. But, he became a monster." She wrapped her arms around him tightly, burying her face in Sun's exposed chest. Despite her best efforts to remain strong, tears threatened to break through. "I loved the man he was, not the monster he became."

Sun rubbed her back, trying to comfort her. "How…" he briefly wondered if it was insensitive to ask this of her, "how serious was it?"

Blake looked up at the monkey faunus. In her golden orbs, Sun saw more than sadness, he saw complete devastation.

"I was going to marry him."

Sun, in all honestly, did not expect that. In fact, I'm sure anyone who would heard that Blake Belladonna was once engaged would have been completely blindsided.

"That's why today is so hard for me." Blake continued to confess. "It's the anniversary of when he proposed to me. He bought me a ring and everything." Blake recalled the memory. It was her last good memory of Adam…before he changed.

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_Adam and Blake had successfully finished another mission in the name of the White Fang today. So, as a means of relaxing, and celebrating, the two decided to take a stroll through the woods. A large, shining, ivory full moon hung large in the sky, giving the woods a beautiful pale luminescence._

"_Another victory in the name of the White Fang." Adam recalled the day's mission. Blake only silently nodded, a smile on her face. She enjoyed this time with Adam._

_Suddenly, Adam pinned her up against a tree and pressed his lips against her. The kiss was burning hot, full of passion, and Blake surrendered completely to it, returning the kiss. The two had been partners forever, and had been dating a brief time._

_The bull pulled away, panting, catching his breath as her held her close._

"_What brought that on?" Blake uncharacteristically giggled at little, face flushed._

"_I love you Blake." He whispered against her lips._

"_I love you too." She spoke between kisses._

"_I never want to let you go." He admitted._

"_I hope you never have to."_

"_Then let's be each other's forever." He suggested._

_That stopped Blake. "W-what?" She stuttered._

_The bull pulled away from his cat, setting her back on her feet. He reached into his pocket as he dropped down onto one knee. From out of his pocket, he pulled out a little black box, which he opened. The contents of the box were a golden ring with an obsidian black diamond sitting embedded in the top. It glistened and sparkled in the pale moonlight._

"_Adam," Blake breathed out, "what are you—"_

"_Blake Belladonna," he cut her off, "will you marry me?"_

_Her answer was immediate. "Yes!" She spoke. She pulled the bull to his feet and kissed him again. Adam pulled the ring out of the box and placed it on his newly-made fiancé's ring finger. "It suits you." He smiled._

"_I love it!" She gasped, staring at the ring in awe._

"_Only the best for you my little kitty." He grinned._

"_But, where did you get this?" She asked. Yes, being a member of the White Fang, Blake believed in bending the rules every now and then. But that was for a righteous cause. She was sure that Adam swiped this._

_Which was why his response shocked her. "I bought it." He told her._

"_W-what?" She asked, nearly speechless._

"_Yeah," he said, pulling her close to him, "I could have swiped it. But I wanted this ring to show something." He kissed her lips softly. "That's how much I love you Blake, I __**bought**__ this ring for you."_

_Blake could have cried of happiness right there. She pulled Adam into another hot, passionate kiss._

"_I'm never gonna lose you Blake." Adam whispered._

_Blake smiled. "Together forever."_

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"Leaving the White Fang was one of the hardest things I ever had to do." Blake told Sun. "I actually tried to convince myself that the cause was still righteous. I tried…god how I _tried_… to love him. But he kept changing. He became ruthless. Bloodthirsty. He wasn't the man I loved anymore."

"So what happened?" Sun asked. He kept his arms around her. Blake didn't mind it though; she liked the comfort, she _needed_ the comfort.

"One night, there was a really. It was just after Adam took over the White Fang. The goal of the rally was to gather new recruits and inspire to fight for the cause." She nuzzled into his chest. "I managed to get out of it by convincing Adam I wasn't feeling good. He wanted me to stay and rest."

"You weren't, sick were you?" Sun asked, the pieces were coming together.

The cat shook her head. "After he was gone, I left."

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_There were people out there who supported the White Fang and what they stood for. One of these people happened to be a superintendent for an apartment complex. To show her support for the cause, she gave Adam and Blake an apartment to live in._

_Adam sat down at the edge of the twin bed he shared with his fiancé. He leaned over and kissed Blake's cheek. "How are you feeling?"_

_Blake gave out a meek whine. "I think I can go with you." She said, trying to push herself up on shaky arms._

_Adam would have none of it. He gently grabbed Blake and laid her back down. "You're not any good to the cause if you aren't 100%." Blake thought she could hear him try not to sound cold-hearted. "Just focus on getting better. I'll be back later tonight."_

_Blake whined again and curled up under the blankets. The sight was so adorable it made Adam smile. He gave her another kiss on the cheek. "I love you." He whispered. But he didn't wait for a response before he left the apartment._

_Blake turned over, her golden eyes staring at the door. "I love you too." She whispered to herself._

_She lay there, staring at the door for several minutes. Sighing, she got out of bed, revealing that she was actually alright. Beneath the blanket, she was fully dressed. She figured Adam would be gone for a couple of hours._

_Blake couldn't think about Adam right now. She would never be able to leave if she thought about Adam. She couldn't change Adam, she knew that. Which is why this was the only option left to her._

_Quickly, the faunus strapped on her boots. She wasn't going to take anything. Not tonight. She had to leave only with what provisions she had; she strapped Gambol Shroud around her back._

_She took one last look around the small, dingy apartment. She was ready to leave, and yet she couldn't move. She couldn't just leave Adam like that; she couldn't just end it._

_She sat down, pulling out a piece of paper and a pen. She spent several minutes thinking and pouring her heart out into a note. Finally, it was ready. Blake set the note down. As she looked over it, spots of moisture began to appear. Blake gasped when she realized that she was crying. She quickly wiped her eyes, drying them. She took one last look over the note, making sure it was still legible._

"_Adam,_

_I'm sorry, but I can't do this anymore. You're not the man I used to love. You changed, and not for the better. I can't keep lying to myself anymore. So I've decided to leave. Don't come after me. Don't look for me. I can't marry you. Not when you've turned into such a monster._

_I'm sorry"_

_Sighing, Blake finally got to the hardest part of having to leave. She looked down at her hand, staring at the golden ring and black jewel. She turned away from the ring as she pulled it off. As soon as she pulled it off, Blake let out a breath that she didn't even knew she was holding. She set the ring down on top of the note._

_Blake opened the window and jumped out, vanishing into the night._

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"After that, I did what I could to get into Beacon." The cat concluded.

"I'm…I'm sorry." It was all Sun could think of to say.

"This, this has been a tiring night for me." Blake said in an almost emotionless tone. "I'm gonna go to bed."

"Oh uh…okay." Sun said awkwardly. "Good night."

Blake silently went into the building, and made her way to her dorm room.

"Oh hey Blake. You're back early." Ruby greeted with her usual quirkiness.

Blake silently climbed up onto her suspended bed.

"Oh Blake." Yang called. When she remained silent, the blonde went on. "A letter arrived for you while you were out.

That got the girl's attention. Blake looked over her bed to her roommate, who handed her an envelope. Blake looked over the package, inspecting it. It only had her name. No stamp. No return address. Curious, Blake tore it open.

She gasped silently. The first thing that slipped out of the envelope was a familiar sight to her. It was a little golden ring with a black jewel embedded in it. Blake stared in shock at the sight of her engagement ring.

What was this? Was this some sort of joke? Blake put her hand in the envelope and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She opened it the letter to read what it said. Her golden eyes widened and she gasped again.

"Blake?" Weiss asked. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no." Blake covered. "It's nothing." It wasn't that her friends believed her...they didn't. They just knew better than to push the subject. Blake would talk to them in her own time. So, the other three members of team RWBY thought it best to leave her be for now.

She curled up on her bed, holding the ring close to her. She read the note over and over and over. It was anonymous, but she knew who it was from; she could recognize that handwriting everywhere. Blake vision became blurred as tears spilled freely from her eyes. It was pointless to try not to cry anyway; all the emotions coursing through her body were too powerful for her anyway. She closed her eyes, trying to cut off the tears, but they only stung.

Even when it was out of sight, Adam's not was still in her mind. She had just received his message, and yet those four words were already haunting her:

"_I still love you!"_

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**Wow, I did not see the story going that way. It was originally supposed to be a Blake x Sun fic, but it ended up being a Black x Adam fic… I think.**

**I'd love to hear some review and know what you guys think. I'm not good at one shots, so it would be good to know what you guys think.**

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**I'm also thinking of doing another **_**RWBY**_** fic in the future. Not a romance, more of an action story. I have two ideas, what would you guys like to see?**

**An Ozpin x Glynda x Ironwood fic (which would feature a love triangle, but it would be a very background element to the story) about the three facing an enemy from their past. Going along with the theme of the characters and what fairy tale characters they're based on (Ozpin on the Wizard, Glynda on Glinda and Ironwood on the Tin Man—that one is mostly speculation), their opponent would be an OC of mine based on the Wicked Witch of the West.**

**I love making OC villains. I have no idea why, I just do. My other story would be another action story—probably focusing on team JNPR or team CRDL—with an OC villain based on one of my favorite fairy tale characters, the Snow Queen.**

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**But yeah, other than that, review and tell me what you think.**


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